JOSEPH VALLARIO – Founder of M&V Provisions in 1949
And Chairman of The Board (until 1989)
Joseph Vallario founded the company in 1949, along with a partner, Joseph Mello. Thus the name M&V Provisions. Joseph Vallario bought out Joseph Mello in 1962 and continued to run the company with the help of his son Paul and his nephew Tony until he retired in 1975. After that he served as Chairman of The Board until his death in 1989.
Before starting the company he had a very varied background:
• From 1931 to 1934 he worked as a reporter for the Sun Times, a popular paper at the time;
• From 1934 to 1936 he worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard;
• From 1936 to 1937 he ran a route for Wonder Bread;
• From 1937 to 1938 he worked for a wholesale food distributor named Wallabout Provisions. He went out selling for them;
• In 1939 he decided to start his own provision route. He built it up into a very nice and prosperous route over 9 years employing several workers on the route; So from 1936 to 1948 he worked in various phases of the food distribution business. This background prepared him very well for the starting of M&V Provisions which was his biggest venture;
• He worked for 26 years at M&V until his retirement in 1975;
He was the stereotype of the entrepreneur, devoting most of his time to his business and having little time for hobbies or outside interests. However, in his younger days he was a boxer for several years and won most of his fights and several awards in the Golden Gloves.
He retained an interest in sports over the years, especially in boxing as you might imagine. He was a man of good humor and loved telling jokes. He did so up until his last days. He exemplified all the values such as punctuality, courtesy, honesty, hard work, optimism and faith in God. Things that many Americans seem to have forgotten today.